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[est]

here is a general thread for people to recommend books, shows and movies to others.

the catch though is that any posts without a decent explanation of why the thing in question is being recommended will be deleted.

go!

[1patheticloser]

My suggestion, to all those who have yet to, watch Joss Whedon's Firefly. I myself was not a fan of his earlier works, Buffy and Angel, but the combination of science fiction and western genres, with the bonus of great characters and smart-as-a-whip dialogue make this show one of the best I've seen in years. It was unfortunately cancelled before it even finished a season due to high budget and the inability of Fox to find a proper time slot for the show. It lives on in both the DVD box set of the collected episodes, and the new feature film, Serenity[/i]. The DVD set is regularly available at a relatively low cost (around 40 dollars US in these parts).

Links:
Buy it from Amazon.com
imdb.com info

[Switchblade]

What he said.

My own particular book recommendation Is "Ilium" by Dan Simmons, and its sequel, "Olympos".

Aside from being a genuinely interesting concept - taking the plot of Homer's Iliad and then weaving it in with two or three other completely original storylines - it's a fine example of writing, and the underlying explanations for all the interweaving plots and characters is pretty cunning.

I'll let Dan Simmons sell the book, actually. This is the opening passage of text, taken from the very beginning of the first book:

Rage.

     Sing, O Muse, of the rage of Achilles, of Peleus' son, murderous, man-killer, fated to die, sing of the rage that cost the Achaeans so many good men and sent so many vital, hearty souls down to the dreary House of Death. And while you're at it, O Muse, sing of the rage of the gods themselves, so petulant and powerful here on their new Olympos, and of the rage of the post-humans, dead and gone though they might be, and of the rage of those few true umans left, self-absorbed and useless though they have become. While you are singin, O Muse, sing also of the rage of those thoughtful, sentent, serious but not-so-close-to-human beings out there dreaming under the ice of Europa, dying in the sulfur-ash of Io, and being born in hte cold folds of Ganymede.

     Oh, and sing of me, O Muse, poor born-again-against his will Hockenberry - poor dead Thomas Hockenberry, Ph.D., Hockenbush to his friends, to friends long since turned to dust on a world long since left behind. Sing of my rage, yes, of my rage, O Muse, small and insignificant thought that rage may be when measured against the anger of the immortal gods, or when compared to the wrath of the god-killer, Achilles.

     On second thought, O Muse, sing of nothing to me. I know you. I have been bound and servant to you, O Muse, you incomparable bitch. And I do not trust you, O Muse. Not one little bit.

[Duchess Tapioca]

Movies for Halloween:

Man Bites Dog - It will educate you because it is Belgum and so you get to read the subtitles, and it is very funny.

Man With the Screaming Brain - It is also very silly, and by Bruce Cambell, great for Halloween! Dazzling make up and special effects! Drama! Robots!

Any short films that were in the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival - They do Cthulhu right. Plus there are awesome scary films that will make you shiver and giggle at the same time. Also if you are in portland next year in early october, go t the hollywood theater.

Chumscrubber - It was trying to be like Donnie Darko, but it didn't quite make it. If you like dolphins, this movie is for you!

The Uninvited - It's got ghosts!

Old Dark House - Boris Karloff is in there, plus romance (not with boris karloff) and potatos (not related to the romance)

Do not forget the old traditions of Great Pumpikn, Charlie Brown and Hocus Pocus, because they're traditional.

[Schmendrick]

I recently watched Closer. It is an incredibly well done movie about two couples who become intertwined. I would not watch this movie if you are stimulated more by visuals. Closer was originally a play and therefore relies heavily on the screenplay which is brilliantly worded.

[noise_wave]

Alexandre Dumas' "The Man In The Iron Mask"

Do not mistake this for the Leonardo Dicaprio movie. The book is about a kazillion times better. It combines the conflict between the finest sword fighters of France (Musketeers for those of you who don't know what I am talking about) with some suprisingly colourful history. It is a tale that is flamboyant, daring, and beautifully adventurous.

And on top of that, it is Alexandre Dumas, who is a brilliant writer to say the least.

[Duchess Tapioca]

The 5th Muskateer - Okay first, where the hell did the 4th come from? This movie is actually pretty annoying, it's okay though! Even though the movie is rated PG, they show one of the lady's breasts 3 times. The actress had to have done it on purpose, there's no way it was in the script. She just said to her self "Well, I'm in this crappy movie, my voice is terribly irritating, and this dress makes my butt 5 feet wide. I guess I'll have to show everyone my tits."

I guess the guy who plays the prince/5th muskateer is pretty ammusing. So anyways, go check that movie out from your local public library.

[*insert silly name here*]

Movies:
Blade Runner
 Think like, old Film Noir, set in the world of star wars, not make it rain a bunch and add some Androids with moratlity issues and you've got blade runner.

Dr. Strangelove...
...or how I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb.  Ever see fail safe? yeah well, This movie is kind of like that (Nuclear attact accidentaly ordered against USSR, no way to recall it), except everyone is played by peter sellers, and Slim Pickins rodeo's and atomic bomb straight to hell


Books,
Still Life With Woodpecker, Tom Robbins
I must say, I'm not a big romance novel reader, but this one isnt a typical romance novel (The main characters are a princess from a nonexistant kingdom and an international terrorist with an effinity for dynamite).  It explores teh hidden meaning of a pack of camel cigarretes, the moon, and the problem of redheads.

The Song of Roland, Unknown
This magically appeared on my Bookshelf, so I natrually had to read it, Its a poem (like the Oddesy) from 11th century france, the author is unknown, but its a beauitfully written peice of medieval literature.  Much battle and funtimes.

[est]

i've already deleted two posts in here where people give recommendations without any kind of reasoning.  an unexplained recommendation is totally useless.

[McTaggart]

Both The Collector by John Fowles (which you probably read for english in school) and A Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon made me think. I think they helped me appreciate other people's opinions more, definately a lesson people should learn. They're also both written differently to a lot of what I've read. I love it when that happens.

[Inlander]

One of my absolute favourite books is The Enormous Room by e. e. cummings.  It's an autobiographical, or at least lightly fictionalised, account of the time he spent in a French prison-camp during World War I, after he was arrested for, well, basically behaving in a cheekily e. e. cummings-like manner (he was an ambulance driver on the Western Front).  The thing that's so wonderful about the book is that where just about anybody else would write a really grim, miserable, and painfully "worthy" book, cummings absolutely rejoices in the situation in which he finds himself, especially the people with whom he's imprisoned: people who most of us would hate to be locked up with, but who cummings regards as the salt of the earth.  The Enormous Room is the ultimate feel-good book, and not in a superficial way: it will leave you with a huge grin on your face, in part because it's bloody funny and cummings has a wonderful turn of phrase, but also and more significantly because it's just so wonderfully human, rejoicing and embracing humans and all their flaws.  It's beautifully non-judgmental.

If you can, snap up the Penguin edition from a few years back, which has a glossary in the back translating the frequent (typically idiosyncratic) foreign-language phrases that appear throughout the book.

[Thalia]

I just went to see Stay last night...I must say, I was VERY impressed, which doesn't happen easily when it comes to movies and me. For anyone who enjoyed Eternal Sunshine, you'll LOVE this...not only is the cinematography and transitions done beautifully, but the story is FANTASTIC!

If you enjoy using your brain and don't mind films where you're going, "eh?" a few times until you get closer towards the end, then this is a definite must see!!!

[Bunnyman]

BOOKS
First Contract by Greg Costikyan.  The premise: The aliens arrive, offering impossibly advanced technology for reasonable prices, and earth's economy collapses overnight.  We follow one high-tech executive as his company fails, and his trek though California, meeting jew-hating bums, aging hippies, and a gun-happy Earth Uber Alles sci-fi writer who has become an overnight galactic success.  Fantastic satire.

MOVIES
Man Bites Dog(elaboration on the above): Warning, only for the truly hardcore, as it contains soem of the blackest comedy put to celluloid.  A camera crew follows the daily routine of a serial killer, filming an ultra-low-budget documentary picture.  The crew gets more nad more embroiled in the crimes until they are doing the killing themselves.  Brilliant stuff, because it taunts its audience mercilessly, making them laugh at rape, murder, and a very charismatic serial killer.

[Garcin]

If on a winter's night a traveler, by Italo Calvino.

You, The Reader, pursue 10 morsels of stories in 10 different genres in libraries, bookstores, and totalitarian governmental archives around the world, fall and love with the Other Reader, and uncover a fiendish plot by Apocryphers to replace true texts with false.  

This is one of the key sources of inspiration for modern day bibliophile fabulism in the spirity of David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas.  It's a sibling to Borge's Ficciones and Nabakov's Pale Fire.  Definitely one of my most enjoyable reading experiences.

[practicality]

I recommend Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors by Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan. It's a science narrative about the evolution of life forms, and then more specifically, the evolution of humans and close relatives. It's extremely interesting and well written. Go borrow or buy it.

Now.

[Kelamin]

The house of leaves by mark z danielewski.

I don't really know how to describe this book. It's kind of horror but not really. But basically it's a manuscript about a house and all the interactions with it by people and a commentary on the manuscript.

hard to explain but a very good read if u can keep track of several storylines at once.

[IronOxide]

Movie: Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo
A brilliant story by the classic screenwriter/director. The way that Sanjuro behaves is brilliant, and just makes for a really good story. Also, there's some kickass fights.

Book: A study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Another classic. It's much more the sad story of a man who gets screwed over than a  detective fiction.

[Darius of Tresserhorn]

Series

Cowboy Bebop

The rant:

I know it's Anime, but lets be honest. You know you watch it. Stop hiding the DVD's under your couch when your friends come over to drink. Loud and proud, baba`y. Best soundtrack in an anime? Check. Best english dub in an anime? Check. Amazing plot, high quality animation, stand alone episodes that tie into each other well, and great combinations of action and comedy? Check.

For me, it was an absolutely great series, blew my mind, and I reccomend it to non-anime watchers all the time.

The tagline:

The denizens of Earth have mostly moved on to inhabit the rest of the terraformed and mechanically evolved solar system. Travel takes place using sublight engines on (relatively common) spaceships, and a series of gates within the solar system.

The main characters are a pair of bounty hunters working together to catch fugitives throughout the system, barely scraping by, but managing. Several other characters join the cast as members of the crew, and good doses of comedy action and drama are littered throughout.

Firefly

`nuff said already, it's amazing. It's everything a series should be. Must watch.

Books

"Heraldmage Vanyel" Trilogy by Mercedes Lackey

The rant:

I read this trilogy on the reccomendation of my fiance, who is a big Lackey fan. It had decent pacing considering the lack of action or plot progression in the beginning, and kept me interested. I cried at several points in the series, the characterization was absolutely excellent, but that may also be because I will listen to anything once or twice, and my fiance insisted I hear the filk that goes with the series, which was actually quite good (Heather Alexander), and really brought out the emotion from the written word better than I was getting it myself.

Overall, pretty good, reccomend to those that like fantasy, perhaps those that are cross-genre readers, don't reccomend to the close-minded, but they can go to hell anyways.

Also, damn good ending to the trilogy.

The tagline:

A page who is the son of a lord is stuck, misunderstood, mistreated, and with no friends, in his fathers remote castle. As time goes on, he gets very "lucky" (in his mind) and is reassigned to become a herald at a distant city, somewhat against his fathers desires.

Lets just say he goes on to be romantically involved, grow out of his inner shell, and becomes somewhat of a figure of power.

Movies

Evil Dead 2

The rant:

This movie was absolutely insane. I read about this after having seen Army of Darkness, and loving the over the top acting of Bruce Campbell. For me, I was actually supposed to be doing a final exam on a director, and choosing three films they directed to use as canon for the paper, discussing their style, etc.

I was woken up in the middle of class (heh) and forced to make a decision on a director. Went something like the following:

Teacher: *prod*
Me: ZZZzzzz... Yarglehuhagha?
Teacher: What director are you doing?
Me: Uh... agh... snarf...
Teacher: ...?
Me: Uh... Coppola?
Teacher: Already taken.
Me: Mmm... David Lean?
Teacher: Already taken.
Me: ...wtf?
Teacher: Come on, you're the last one. Pick one, or I'll have you do Rob Cohen.
Me: *shudders* Uh... crap... Sam Raimi.
Teacher: ...I trust that's a real director, so okay.

I rented Evil Dead 2, Evil Dead 1, and Army of Darkness the next day. Good god.

Evil Dead 2 is crazy, because it's fairly low budget, it's a B movie, and it still managed to creep me out, make me laugh, and give me memorable quotes, all in the same sitting. I've almost no idea how it achieved this, but if nothing else, it's a B-movie classic.

Besides, it's banned in Norway/Finland/Iceland. That's a good sign, people.

The tagline:

A man takes a vacation in the woods with his girlfriend to a cabin, there they discover a professor had been trying to decode the legendary "Book of the Dead" in the very room they are standing in.

Horror/Hilarity ensues.

[Merkava]

My suggestion, to all those who have yet to, watch Joss Whedon's Firefly. I myself was not a fan of his earlier works, Buffy and Angel, but the combination of science fiction and western genres, with the bonus of great characters and smart-as-a-whip dialogue make this show one of the best I've seen in years. It was unfortunately cancelled before it even finished a season due to high budget and the inability of Fox to find a proper time slot for the show. It lives on in both the DVD box set of the collected episodes, and the new feature film, Serenity[/i]. The DVD set is regularly available at a relatively low cost (around 40 dollars US in these parts).

Links:
Buy it from Amazon.com
imdb.com info

Now Buffy, I hated.

Angel and Firefly own, most definently.

Might as well be a fanboy and recommend the former as well. XP

Angel is just brilliant. Unlike Buffy, who's angst was all about "how do I live a normal life with these uber powers *wine*", Angel is about redemption and dealing with what you've done in the past. While Buffy's characters were all self-involved, Angel was about family. While Buffy tries to ape the feelings of the old Scooby Doo shows and horror movies, Angel is all about the film noir, and has a dark atmosphere to suppliment it. It mixes humor and drama perfectly, having you laughing one moment and gasping/tearing up the next. The acting is pretty much superb all-around and the writing is really sharp (especially with Lorne, who comes in on the second season and becomes a major character after the 3rd or 4th season.


Besides, Wesley has one of the most brilliant character shifts ever.

The first few seasons have become cheaper over the years, and I'd recommend starting with the first season. You have to become attached to the characters for most of the plot twists/story arcs to make sense.

You can also pick up seasons 1-4 on Amazon as a bundle for $140, which is pretty nice, since buying them all seperately would empty your wallets to the tune of $200.

www.amazon.com

[Giantandre]

2 Books I Love

James Frey's -- A Million Little Pieces - The best book Ive read dealing with Drugs/Alcohol but, it's much more than that, It deals with redemption and moving forward in a real way. The book itself is the very definition of "harrowing"....(Be forwarned this is the new pick of The Oprah Book Club, I read it in 04 and I still recomend ... in fact I CANT BELIEVE THE OPRAH Army can handle this book)

Douglas Coupland's --- Hey Nostradamus! - Coupland's work can be hit or miss (Gen X, Microserfs, and Life after God are Great) (Shampoo Planet Miss Wyoming, and All Families... and so very average) HN is darkly comic yet disturbing and haunting....Takes a look at Alienation, Spirtuality, and Family Dysfuction.....and Acceptance  

2 books I read in one sitting

[MilkmanDan]

So, everyone is plugging Cowboy Bebop, huh? Well, it would seem that I'll have to be a lone voice of dissent. Yes, the music is kickass, the dubbing is great and the animation is good, but it was really dull. I watched the whole thing, because I borrowed the DVDs off my friend. I got all the way to the supposedly mind-blowing final episode and honestly couldn't give a shit if some stupidly named guy with a raven killed some other idiot's ex-girlfriend. Or whatever.
Actually, I think my problem with the whole series is that I didn't like anyone in it, and therefore didn't care what happened to them. It just never engaged me.

I hadn't intended to go off on such a rant about Cowboy Bebop, but there you have it. On to my recommendation.

Twin Peaks - TV Series.
It's pretty old these days, as it was actually on TV around 1990. I was too young to watch it then, but through the magic of video (and now DVD), I have watched it since.
A truly bizarre plot starts simply enough with the murder of a local girl and the arrival of an FBI agent to investigate. Before you know it, there are dwarves, women speaking to logs, incredibly wierd dream sequences, conspiracies and damn fine cherry pies.
It was made by David Lynch, which should give you an idea of its style. It manages to make sense on its own terms, just about, which is basically his trademark.
So, yeah. If you want wierd, you should check it out.

[kitsunefire]

Crash, its new like this year...Its all about how you affect everybody you come into contact with and how events set of chain reactions...very good movie, heavy on rasism (in SEVERAL nationalities) and just a really great...well go watch it!

great book I'd have to say "the Giver" byLois Lowry, It'd take a fast reader maybe a few hours to read as its one of those "young adult" novels, but well worth it, Jonas lives with his family in a town without color, with out music, without emotion. At the cerimony of Elevens he is chosen to be the towns next "Giver" the person in charge of keeping all the memories in the town...thats all I'm going to say...but its well worth the few hours to read it. Very neat concepts.

[Sideways]

The Shroud of the Thwacker.

Chris Elliott's first book.

This is Chris Elliott.  You may remember him from 'There's Something About Mary'.

This is his movie/T.V. bio

The book debut from the Get a Life and Cabin Boy star is billed as a parody, but this murder mystery wrapped in laughter is simply straight-up enjoyable. Jack the Jolly Thwacker is leaving dead bodies all over 1882 New York City. Chris Elliott, a modern-day researcher, is tracking the serial killer through time. Elliott's wry humor fastens on the burgeoning, Boss Tweedified city, giving it a hilarious and vividly imagined set of anachronistic technologies and accoutrements (New York's Mayor Teddy Roosevelt, who has mysteriously disappeared, has a navel piercing). The narrative leaps back and forth in time, as 1882 police chief Caleb Spencer chases the Thwacker through the streets, and Elliott, convinced the killer is from the 21st century, chases him through time. Elliott's ability to time travel is facilitated by Yoko Ono (don't ask) and a willing suspension of disbelief, but the results are very amusing (if often infantile in the style of There's Something About Mary), with asides on every page that bring in everyone and everything from Typhoid Mary to Skyy Vodka. If Shroud feels like an extended, Americanized Monty Python skit, it's also a rousing good yarn.

[Meh. Whatever you say...]

Hmmm...

I think I'll recommend The Realm of Possibility by David Levithan.

His writing technique is amazing, he has humor, sadness, adorability (did I just make that wrod up?), and everything else you could want in a book.

It's from the perspective of twenty different people, and they all have their own ways of 'writing' it. One girl writes in song form, on guy writes in poems, so on, so forth.

It's just an amazing book, and you should go out to the nearest book store and read it.

So there.

</3 Kerry

[Duchess Tapioca]

Movie recommendation:

Forbidden Planet

It's got romance, science, mystery and charm! Dazzling special effects, exciting space!  And recently remastered to DVD format for your convenience!

Really folks, it's a classic. How often do you get to see a flying saucer, a pretty lady, a friendly whiskey-making robot, and a chilling Freudian psychology monster in the same movie? Not that often! It's in color! There's a tiger! And lasers! Oh dear!



Zzzzp. Pchew pchew!

[Sh8k3zu1a]

Books:
Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park books mostly because they give you a much more complete story than the movies + he is an awesome author.

Isaac Asimov's Acension Factor, The Jesus incident, and The Lazarus effect.

those are all fiction works that are very interesting and i enjoyed them very much its hard to reccomend just a few (he has written over 300 published books) so i did 3.
It is a very strange trilogy but nevertheless i ahve never read a Asimov work that disappointed me.

[Kthak]

Books:
Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park books mostly because they give you a much more complete story than the movies + he is an awesome author.

Isaac Asimov's Acension Factor, The Jesus incident, and The Lazarus effect.

those are all fiction works that are very interesting and i enjoyed them very much its hard to reccomend just a few (he has written over 300 published books) so i did 3.
It is a very strange trilogy but nevertheless i ahve never read a Asimov work that disappointed me.

I'll have to second the recommendation for the Jurassic Park books, both the original and The Lost World. I first read Jurassic Park in 4th or 5th grade after seeing the movie in theatres. It completely changed how I thought about literature, and I've been addicted to Crichton ever since. The Lost World was possibly better than the original, even if the movie sucked.

Books that should be read include Main Street by Sinclair Lewis, a period piece written shortly after the period. The character development is simply amazing and the story is fairly easy to follow. The book is one of the best satires I've read, up there with Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal and L Frank Baum's The Wizard of Oz.

A modern equivalent to this would be Richard Russo's Empire Falls. Possibly the best novel I've read in the past few years. It's the story of a small town in New England, and was turned into an HBO two part film.

Anything by David Sedaris is worth reading, no explanation needed for this one. You need to read every book he has ever written.

[Patrick]

Personally, I recommend Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. Why? 'Cause it made me cry. Same deal with Ring of Endless Light by Madeleine L'Engle, 'cept that made me cry even harder.

[neomang5]

Well, since I havent seen it anywhere, I'll reccomend Eragon by Christoper Paolini, as well as its sequel Eldest. Theyre essentially the tale of a boy and his dragon, being one of the last of its race. While it sounds fairly stereotypical, one of the main draws is the fact that unlike most, Paolini really makes you feel like the world he portrays is real, rather than some average fake sci-fi land.

Also, it has dragons. Go. Read.

[onewheelwizzard]

I have 5 words for everyone here.

READ BOOKS BY TOM ROBBINS.

I can't emphasize this enough.  If one person goes out and picks up a Tom Robbins book because of this post, I ... will be a very, very happy person.

Oh, right, explanation.

Tom Robbins is the best author operating today, in my opinion.  He's got 9 books out, including 8 novels and a collection of short nonfiction writing.  His writing style is incomparable just because it's so goddamn quirky ... he's got a way with thoughts the way normally "good" writers have a way with words.  I'm finding it hard to give an acceptable explanation of why he's so good ... you'd really have to read something, I think.  If you buy a book by him, and you read it all the way through and you don't like it, I'll personally send you the price of the book (the scary part is that I'm considering being serious here).  Look for ...

Wild Ducks Flying Backwards (short writings, good for an introduction to his style but not necessarily his ideas)
Jitterbug Perfume (my favorite book of all time, it will convince you to live forever)
Skinny Legs and All (I think I learned more about life from this book than any other book ever, a good first novel)
Another Roadside Attraction (Body of Christ found in Vatican basement?  Read it.)
Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas (the only book I've ever seen written entirely in the *second* person)
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (his most famous, and the only one I haven't finished ... big in the feminist movement, actually)
Still Life With Woodpecker (possibly the best love story ever told)
Villa Incognito (shortest, most recent novel, not his best but still stunning)
Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates (it's not even fair how good this book is.  Read it.)

Tom Robbins is really, really funny.  He teaches you things that reading fiction doesn't usually teach.  He doesn't inspire you to write or make music or anything, he inspires you to LIVE.  It's ... like I said, hard to explain.  I mean, look at me, I'm spouting gibberish about being inspired to live.  Just read the books, you'll understand.

[ayePod]

Three words.

THE MIGHTY BOOSH.

When a shows major influence is Keenan And Kel and each episode has atleast 5 seperate pop culture/movie refrences I am a happy beaver.

[ayePod]

Three words.

THE MIGHTY BOOSH.

When a shows major influence is Keenan And Kel and each episode has atleast 5 seperate pop culture/movie refrences I am a happy beaver.

[Rawr and Stuff]

For those of you who loved the series, the Complete Calvin and Hobbes freaking rocks. Brings everything together so nicely with some really cool extras. That and Calvin and Hobbes just rock so much anyways.

[Mikintosh]

For DVDs, purchase The Work of Michel Gondry, Spike Jonze, and/or Mark Romanek (there are other ones, but these are the ones I own). The music videos in them are all extremely well-done (good music too), and you get a lot of insight into filmmaking for that kind of medium. They also come with little books by the directors, which are cool and informative as well.

[Oli]

Oh, right, explanation.

Tom Robbins is the best author operating today, in my opinion.  He's got 9 books out, including 8 novels and a collection of short nonfiction writing.  His writing style is incomparable just because it's so goddamn quirky ... he's got a way with thoughts the way normally "good" writers have a way with words.  I'm finding it hard to give an acceptable explanation of why he's so good ... you'd really have to read something, I think.  If you buy a book by him, and you read it all the way through and you don't like it, I'll personally send you the price of the book (the scary part is that I'm considering being serious here).

If we do get a book and pretend not to enjoy it will you still send us the money?!?

I might check him out if his stuff is sold in the UK

My reccomendation goes to Bill Bryson.

Some seriously funny travel writing. It's hard to describe why it's so funny, but basically it's tasteful sarcasm wit and irony mixed with hindsight while he's telling you about travelling in some country. HILARIOUS stuff.

He has loadsa books out too.

A good one to look for is "Notes from a big country" which is basically some short essays he wrote for a British newspaper on American life. Seriously funny stuff (well at least I think so) and you shouldn't be disapointed.

Also if you like Bill Bryson check out a book by Tony Hawk (Not the skateboarder...) called "Round Ireland with a fridge" a drunken bet for £100 leads to him hitch-hiking round Ireland with a fridge. 'Nuff said eh.

[cacahuate]

Scrubs = TV greatness. Starting a-fresh in January.

[Inlander]

If there's one good thing about the summer non-ratings period, it's that the commercial T.V. channels screen in wholesale quantities all the stuff that inexplicably doesn't rate during the rest of the year.  Which translates as Channel 7 showing a solid hour of Scrubs from 11:00 a.m. every weekday!  Working from home rocks.

[Bunnyman]

The film Wild Zero is worth seeking out, not only because it stars Japanese rock band Guitar Wolf, but because it's a movie that, like Versus, exists only to be "cool."  In this case, what is cool?  How about...

Leather jackets, obsessive hair-combing, an alien invasion, zombies, stuff shooting flames, stuff exploding, heads exploding, an unceasing rock-and-roll soundtrack, and the affirmation that "Love has no borders, nationalities, or genders."

It also continues the proud Japanese tradition of having a stunning first ten minutes (in the same vein as Miike's Dead or Alive).

In other words, see it.  You won't be dissappointed.

[Paper Beats Rock]

Three words.

THE MIGHTY BOOSH.

When a shows major influence is Keenan And Kel and each episode has atleast 5 seperate pop culture/movie refrences I am a happy beaver.

Oh come on!  If we're recommending Brit-TV it has to be the one and only Peep Show!

Filmed entirely in the first person perspective of two flatmates, Mark and Jez, an odd-couple type pairing.  There's so many good things about it.  Anyone who like the cringe-worthy comedy of The Office will love this.  The dead-pan delivery is outstanding and when you're seeing through one of the character's eyes you can hear what they're thinking which gives rise to some great 'what they're thinking'/'what they say' comedy moments.

[Patrick]

Kenan and Kel was awesome. Admit it.

[KharBevNor]

A good one to look for is "Notes from a big country" which is basically some short essays he wrote for a British newspaper on American life. Seriously funny stuff (well at least I think so) and you shouldn't be disapointed.

FAILURE TO DO SO WILL RESULT IN A FINE OF $100,000,000,000 AND AN UNPROVOKED NUCLEAR ATTACK ON A SMALL NEUTRAL COUNTRY!

(You'll understand when you read it).

I'll make some recs myself. Just a few movies to start with:

Gosford Park

An all-star cast of fantastic English actors star in this delightful country-house murder-mystery that both manages to pay homage to and subtly mock the cliches of both Dorothy L. Sayers, Agatha Christie and PG Wodehouse whilst providing an intirguing examination of the pre-war British class system. Wonderfully written.

Magnus

This wonderful Icelandic black comedy has it all: Betrayal, attempted suicide, cancer, despair, faceless beuraucracy and really, really cute ponies. Overall, like a lot of Icelandic cinema, it is essentially absurdist, turning human suffering into a farce. Life is futile, but who gives a shit? And the ponies are seriously cute. Subtitles.

Reykjavik 101

Another UTTERLY brilliant Icelandic black comedy. Life is going swimmingly for Hlynur, a 30 year old man who still lives in his mothers apartment, creaming off the Icelandic welfare state (most Icelanders are extremely hardworking), drinking, smoking and surfing the net for porn, troubled only by his inability to keep a girlfriend and the haunting spectre of his drunkard father. However, when Hlynur accidentally ends up getting his mothers lesbian lover pregnant after a particularly drunken New Years...well, things start getting awkward. I really cannot stress how incredible and life-affirming this film is. Shot in realistic language, half subtitled Icelandic, half English (for reasons that become apparent when you GO SEE IT.) No ponies, but there are sex, drugs and iguanas. Also, it is entirely possible that this is the only film ever with a lesbian sex scene AND a decent plot.

[Paper Beats Rock]

Hey KharBevNor, just watched Gosford Park and 101 Reykjavik and they were both pretty damn good.  

Gosford Park was shot really well and there was some great performances in there.  Showed the whole class divide very well.

101 Reykjavik was pretty funny, it really was a good life-affirming story.  I particularly liked his comparison with the different species of birds towards the end.

I guess you'll have seen Noi Albinoi?  Another good Icelandic film that you'll probably like.

[Paper Beats Rock]

For DVDs, purchase The Work of Michel Gondry, Spike Jonze, and/or Mark Romanek (there are other ones, but these are the ones I own). The music videos in them are all extremely well-done (good music too), and you get a lot of insight into filmmaking for that kind of medium. They also come with little books by the directors, which are cool and informative as well.

Oh my god, you bastard, I'm short enough on money as it is and now I have to go and buy the Mike Romanek DVD!  How long has this been out?  I got the Gondry, Jonze and Cunningham ones and I thought that was it.

EDIT:  Shit, there's more than one that I don't have, you double bastard!

[Cobra Kai]

Evil Dead Trap 1 and 2.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0167147/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0203132/


Tetsuo http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096251/

Must see for any horror movie buffs

[Trampo]

Movie:- Hercules in New York, sheer poetry. If you ever want to see Arnie in his natural habitat watch this, you'll either love it or hate it, I love it.

Series:- Spaced, always a classic from Simon Pegg, only two series but both are gold.

Books:- I second the motionon on Jurassic park, excellent book, although if you like Shakespeare try King Lear its a fave of mine.

[zmeiat_joro]

Twin Peaks, Forbidden Planet and fucking _Spaced_. YEAH

Blade Runner, the book and film, and Dr. Strangelove... too, but... it there anyone who _hasn't_ seen them?!

I will recommend anything by Samuel Delany. He is among the top five authors of the twentieth century in my personal library. You need to have read a lot of science fiction in order to properly appreciate much of his work, but not all of it. Some of his later authobiographical work is accesible to anyone with serious literary interests. Granted, some poeple do hate his books, but even if you are one of these people, I think you will learn something about yourself from that Smile

[Patrick]

Best movie ever? "The Right Stuff". "Road to Perdition" is an amazing film as well. Very good lighting, which is something I don't notice very often.

[thetruthisunhappy]

Two books that I recommend:

Kushiels Dart by Jacqueline Carey (actually this is part of a trilogy): These books are awesome. I am a fan of fantasy books in general and my friend basically said OMG read this!! Do it!! It’s very well written and gripping story, it is somewhat of a romance, which normally I hate, but I didn’t mind in here. There’s lots of irony and it’s also thought provoking.

American Gods by Neil Gaiman: This is a very interesting and strange book. One review that describes it better then I could have says:

As unsettling as it is exhilarating, American Gods is a dark and kaleidoscopic journey deep into myth and across an America, at once eerily familiar and utterly alien.

Also thought provoking and has funny parts. Read an excerpt here: http://www.neilgaiman.com/books/americangods_pb.asp#excerpt

[Mnementh]

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal.  Absolutely hysterical.  Fairly irreverent.  It's a humourous story about Jesus and his buddy biff during the years not covered in the bible.

I read it through yesterday and I was chuckling all afternoon.

[zerofiftysix]

I recommend reading some Haruki Murakami.  I don't know why I am in love with Murakami but I am.  I've read all of his stories that have been translated into the English and I even own one of his books in the original Japanese.  Here are some of my favorite books by him:

• Wind-Up Bird Chronicles - I think everyone who's anyone will have read this book by Murakami.  It's about a regular normal guy living his life with his wife in a little flat.  But everything starts with one small incident - the departure of his cat.  And the story takes a twist and enters a surreal world in which we find him sitting deep down in a dried up well.  It's hard to describe without giving so much away.
  
• Sputnik Sweetheart - It's my favorite book by Murakami.  It's a twisted love story, an unfinished love triangle (is there ever a complete love triangle? YOU TELL ME).  Anyway, guy likes chick, chick likes older chick, older chick is just asexual.  But I like this because it emphasizes the point that sooner or later we're all alone, like little Sputniks out in the vast emptiness of space.
  
• Kafka on the Shore - Murakami's most recent novel (although its been out in Japan for a few years now).  It's two stories that intertwine and play off each other.  On one weave is a story about a kid, named Kafka, who ran away to find his mother and sister.  On the other weave is about a not-so-bright guy, Nakata, who has the ability to talk to cats.  Nakata is off on a mission that's so secret, even he doesn't know about it.  He is just drawn along with the current yet acts in a way that is defiant and unique.  These two threads create such an intricate story, you might even have a story-gasm or something.  Maybe.[/list:u]
  
  Murakami has several themes that he uses in his stories.  I think the most prevelant theme is that he presents to the readers a main character that we can so easily relate to: a regular joe-schmoe guy living in a terribly mundane world.  The guy always has girl troubles and a shitty job but he's happy because its comfortable.
  
  Yet, the trouble always comes from the women.  Women are always viewed as something mysterious, weird, yet prized and special, something to be cherished, lusted after and unattainable.  Man, what is up with women!?
  
  There's always his philosophy of "going with the flow" which the characters seem either obey or defy.  Either one, the story still progresses.
  
  Oh yeah, even if the stories are set in Japan, Western readers will not feel totally alienated because it's not really that different.  The world is the same world everyone lives in, the place names just happen to be Japanese.  So totally pick up books by Haruki Murakami.  It's good!